Marching Towards GST !!!

Cabinet clears four bills to enable rollout of GST

The Union Cabinet on Monday approved four supporting Goods and Services Tax-related laws which will enable them to be introduced in the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament so the new tax can be rolled out from July 1.

The four laws approved by the Cabinet are the Central GST, Integrated GST, Union Territory GST and the Compensation Bills. Now state cabinets have to approve the State GST Bills which must then be passed by the respective state Assemblies to bring the new one-nation-one-tax regime into force by merging Central taxes like excise duty and service tax, and state levies like VAT.

The GST laws were the only agenda at the meeting of the Union Cabinet on Monday.

The GST Council has already approved the four-tier tax slabs of five, 12, 18 and 28 per cent, plus an additional cess on demerit goods like luxury cars, aerated drinks and tobacco products. In April, the council will decide which commodity and service will be taxed at what rate.

Among the pending agenda for the GST Council is the approval of four rules — on composition, valuation, input tax credit and transitions. For this, the next meeting of the GST will be held on March 31.

The Central GST Bill has provisions for the levy and collection of tax on intra-state supply of goods or services or both by the Centre. The IGST Bill has provisions for the levy and collection of tax on inter-state supply of goods or services or both by the Central government.

The UTGST Bill provides for levy on collection of tax on intra-UT supply of goods and services in Union territories without a legislature. The Union Territory GST is a kin to States Goods and Services Tax (SGST), which will be levied and collected by the states/Union territories on intra-state supply of goods or services, or both.

The Compensation Bill provides for compensation to states for loss of revenue due to implementation of the Goods and Services Tax for five years as per Section 18 of the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act 2016.

From Sources:-